Heart From Grain To Glass
by Kigai Uchida
Summary: A daughter keeping a secret from her parents runs to find someone who will accept her for who she truely is. Mostly own characters.


Please note that this story was written a number of years ago, back when I was starting out with writing. No matter how bad it sucks, I would rather you not submit flames, and I will only pay attention to criticism that will actually help me in rewriting this story to make it better. Thank you for your time and enjoy as much as you can.

(Baki is mentioned and Gaara is used, but that doesn't mean I own them.)

I don't want to be like my dad. Most kids want to be like their dads, but I don't want to become a monster. Just the other day, Momma told me about how he almost destroyed an entire village. Of course, Momma didn't know that I knew it wasn't Daddy who did it. It was really the demon who's inside me now.

His name is Shukaku and he takes care of me when my parents aren't around. He's kind of like my conscience. The only thing is, he controls the emotions I express and my actions sometimes, and that makes it hard to show how I'm feeling. When I walk around my village, people only stare at me and kids don't want to play with me. Momma says that's what Daddy's life was like when he was my age: being hated, rejected, and alone.

That's why I don't want to be like him. I still love him, but I just want to be myself. Neither of them know Shukaku lives inside of me. He says not to let them know. So I haven't.

I'm six years old and I used to live in the Village Hidden Within the Sands, but now I'm a runaway. I snuck out while Daddy was busy being Kazekage and Momma was on a mission as an ANBU. I escaped into the Great Desert in search of a wonderful new place where I won't have to play by myself. With the ability to manipulate sand at will, I had been able to traverse the vast desert before my parents realized I had left. I almost wanted to turn back.

Soon enough, I found my dream village. My private teacher, Baki-sensei, once taught me about the different villages in our world. I recognized this one as Konoha; the Village Hidden Within the Leaves. I hesitated at a distance as I was afraid of the lack of desert heat I was about to experience. I will miss those sand dunes.

I finally braved the big gated entrance, my tiny body looking weak in between the black-cloaked guards on either side of the doors. "Excuse me," I croaked. My throat went dry as I breathed in the new rich air. I cleared it and tried again. "Excuse me!"

Only when the crisp winds picked up, tangling more of my blood-red hair, did the tall man with a white and red-striped wolf mask turn to me. He looked intimidating. "State your name and business," he demanded.

"Um, Mikoto, and…I want to live here?" My answer had turned into a question due to my uneasiness. "Please?" I added, just in case.

The other guard, also in a wolf mask but was about my size, spoke next. "Where are you from?" It sounded as though he were more curious than formal.

"I'm from Sunagakure, and I ran away," I stated plainly. I silently wished they wouldn't report my to Daddy.

"Are you related to Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara?" Big Wolf asked. He had obviously taken note of my small sand gourd and black-rimmed hazel eyes.

"Y-yessir." I cringed, ready for comments. "I'm his daughter, sir." I turned my gaze to the ground, embarrassed. I didn't like people staring.

Little Wolf shifted his weight, taking a quick glance at his taller counterpart. Then, he warily walked over to him, keeping a trained eye on me. Big Wolf nodded after a moment and they removed their masks.

With Little Wolf's face uncovered, it was like I was back under the scorching sun. His face was aglow when he smiled at me. I managed to control myself before I lost my jaw to the green ground. I had never really cared for anyone but my parents, so this feeling was almost alien to me. And having never smiled nor laughed, I had the sudden urge to do both. I liked this foreign feeling.

"I'll give you the grand tour," Little Wolf said, snapping my out of my reverie.

"U-u-uh," I stuttered. I momentarily forgot how to speak; I was still in a daze. I compared it to staring at the sun for too long and not being able to see anything else for a while. I got through it though. "Just as long as no one knows about my...erm…situation." I shuffled my sandaled feet, embarrassed again.

Big Wolf placed a hand on the child's head and assured, "No problem. You're just a fangirl, right?" He looked down at Little Wolf. "It's the end of our shift anyway. You go with her while I wait here for the next ANBU."

I stiffened at the word ANBU. So, they have those here, too. That'll keep my mind off of home.

Little Wolf's dark blue hair was swept back as he opened a door for me. "Come on. Time's a-wasting."

I hurried through the door before it would close on me and gasped. My tour guide made a confused face. "Sorry," I said. "This place is much different than the desert." I noted the beautiful flower shoppe, the light and fluffy clouds above us, the bustling people with smiles plastered on their faces, and the odd clothes. Where were all the floor-length sand-coloured robes? I felt oddly out of place. When I turned to Little Wolf, I wondered how he had switched his cloak with khaki shorts and an off-white T-shirt.

All through the tour I tried to process what we saw, especially the nice house at the very end. "And this is my house," he concluded, patting my gourd awkwardly. So, Mikoto." He rubbed the back of his head in thought. "You don't have a place to stay tonight, do you? I mean—"

I cut him off short. "Yes please!" Arg! Why couldn't just smile this one time? The whole "no outward emotions" thing was really getting on my nerves. Even through the tour my face was kept straight and voice indifferent. "Um, do your parents think it's ok?" I suddenly felt very nervous.

"Sure, I'm sure it's alright with them," he responded excitedly. He reached for my hand. Once he came in contact with my skin, he yelped, clutching his hand in pain, and backed away. The heat still locked within my body wouldn't be releasing into the atmosphere any time soon. Shukaku would not allow that.

At the same instant, I ran as fast as I could in one direction, leaping over anything standing in my way. My legs will have to carry me however far it takes to get away from the boy. A fenced perimeter surrounding a missive forest had signs that read: CAUTION FOREST OF DEATH KEEP WELL OUT AND AWAY. This seemed like an ideal place to hide. At least no one would look for me here.

Inside were planet-sized ancient trees which bent and twisted around each other, enormous creepy crawlies, and a thick coating of slimy algae that gummed up the damp floor. In some spots, it bubbled up as if a swamp of some kind resided there. The dense tree all came together at the top, creating an unwelcoming darkness within the forest, blocking out the sun's rays.

I camped out under a low-bending tree that formed the shape of a small cave, other trees and vegetation forming enclosed walls on all sides. This was near the center of the jungle. As long as my sand shield was up to protect me against any intruders, I could be safe throughout the night. All I had to do was stay awake to keep the shield up, and that was easy enough. As I sat awake in my makeshift cave, I thought about whether to return home or apologize to Little Wolf.

My sense of timing was impeccable because when I left the comfort of the forest, I faced the most beautiful scene I could ever imagine. Due to the thinness of the clouds, all the colours of the rainbow reflected back on themselves from the peeking sun, forming a new variety of mixed colours that caught my eye and interest. I used to think the desert sunrise against the wonders of the sand dunes was the most amazing scene.

Konoha sunrises were now my favourite.

This opening detail to the day had completely shot down my initial plan. I turned on my heel and headed in the direction where I could apologize to Little Wolf and ask for forgivness. I wished I had kept track of time during my stay in the forest; perhaps he had forgotten about me.

The footprints I discovered in the mud, which were mine, indicated it had been an overnight stay. I rushed back to his house as fast as I had when I escaped from him.

Hoping it wasn't too late, I impolitely banged open the front door and let out a strong hiss. I was so surprised at myself that it took me a minute to figure out why I hissed. My teeth ground together.

My parents stood in the middle of the room I intruded. Momma had one arm wrapped around the front of her waist and the other in a fist, her worried stance. The pained look on her face made my belly ache.

Next to her was Daddy with his arms crossed. The look on his face made my gut flip over twice. He had an enraged fire in his hazel eyes and his lips crushed into a hard line. Momma now seemed to be worried of what Daddy may do to me as punishment. I already have plenty of scars from whenever I had done something wrong. So, I was tough enough not to attack or defend during my punishment.

Shukaku had too much fun from my pain anyway to allow defense.

I could feel my stronger second-skin, made of a thin layer of hardened sand, slowly fade away into the gourd on my back as I prepared myself for a beating of some sort. I knew I had done wrong and deserved to feel pain for it, which was why I never used my defenses, not always because of Shukaku. That's how Daddy and Momma never knew about my demon.

I remembered confiding in Little Wolf the day before. He'd understood my situation better than I thought, comforting me in the process. Even though I couldn't smile on the outside, I was overjoyed by having someone to talk to without my demon scaring them away. He even knew about my curse!

I calmly stepped forward and shut the door behind me, tensed and ready for a strong blow to the head. My eyes squeezed shut, I didn't want to know when my fate would come.

I suddenly felt arms tighten around my body in a non-violent way. I was even more afraid than before. Was Momma going to hurt me this time? I hoped it wouldn't be too hard for her; it's about time she let out her anger, too. Squared shoulders slid across my jaw and trembled. Come on, Momma. Get it over with. You'll feel better afterwards.

A waited a moment longer. No pain. She knew punishment, alright, this was torture. Maybe she was inching a blade to my back so I would feel the burning pain until death claimed me.

Then, I heard whimpering. A sob? I cautiously opened my eyes to find my head rested against a neck shaking from the sobs. It was Daddy. My shock caused me to shudder and he felt it, holding me even tighter in this foreign embrace. Where his head nuzzled into my back, it was stained with something cold and wet.

"I searched all over the village for you," Daddy mumbled. His tone of voice wasn't hard and serious as it usually was, but quiet and soft. His embrace tightened even more before he let go, held my hands, and gazed into my eyes. His face was stained with a wet smile, making me shudder more visibly. "Why did you run away from home?"

Momma stepped closer to us and knelt, too. She had a wet frown. "I had the ANBU looking as well," she said, sniffling. "We thought you were gone forever." She choked on the last word and wiped some wet from streaking down her flushed cheeks.

Judging by my aghast expression, unknown to them that it was my only expression, they exchanged wary glances. Daddy brushed a loose strand of hair and tucked in behind my ear and asked, "What are you feeling right now, Mikoto? Aren't you ever going to tell us?" Momma leaned in closer as I opened my mouth to speak.

"May I have a moment alone first?" They were confused, or course, but nodded. Sighing, I trudged over to the farthest corner from my parents, happily noticing Big Wolf and Little Wolf sitting on a sofa.

I literally had an argument with myself. I asked a question, and then reasoned with myself. At least that's what everyone else thought. I was really talking to Shukaku about whether they should know about him or not. He didn't mind it much, happy about having a chance to freak Daddy out. His only request was that I allow him to speak through my soul with his own voice. That was the only thing I had true control over, but I allowed it, lest he make my future a living hell.

My part of the deal was having control over my emotions while he wanted to talk. He agreed through, what sounded like, gritted teeth.

I glanced at Little Wolf hopefully and received a good luck thumbs-up and a smile. That really helped. I shuffled back over to my parents, cleared my throat, and simply stated, "Shukaku wants to talk now." They were both shocked, as expected, and it showed. It was like a scary monster had jumped out of their closet…

"Testing, testing. One, two, three!" Shukaku experimented with his new voice. "Is this thing on?" He pause for effect. "So, we meet again, Gaara." His hideous cackling rung through my body and made me feel sick.

Daddy flinched at his name. "Yeah, and I've gotten more sleep without you around."

Shukaku laughed again and I imagined him wiping his eyes in sarcasm. "I've been around longer than you think, Kazekage. Ever since your precious daughter was born."

I cleared my throat again for his attention. "I didn't know you go back on your word."

"Fine, fine," the demon sighed. "Mikoto ran away because she felt rejected and lonely and wanted a friend, besides me. When she met that small boy over there, she felt so overjoyed to stay" –I rolled my eyes—"and she liked it so much better here since no one treats her like a monster that's out to kill them all." He had sounded bored during the entire speech.

Daddy's pained face stared at me. "Is all this true, Mikoto?"

"Yessir." I wasn't backing out now. Shukaku gave me a mental rib-nudge. I turned to Little Wolf. "And as long as he's ok with it, I want to stay in Konoha with him." With the strong urge to smile, I asked my demon for some help, with which I got a stronger no. Fine. I will try be myself…

"Absolutly not!" Daddy scowled fiercely down at me as he stood with his arms crossed. He composed himself with another smile in a split second. "We shall move here instead. As a family." He put his arms around Momma as they both laughed in happiness.

I twirled over in joy to Little Wolf and jumped into his awaiting arms with a loud, "Whoo Hoo! Did you hear that?" He had almost fallen backwards before he set me on my feet, my arms still entwined around his neck. My very first smile reflected in his glorious ruby eyes. It faded gradually as I realized how close we were to each other…then I started to laugh.

I'd never done that before! It was so unreal yet so right at the same time! I hugged him again while I laughed and smiled. Shukaku grumbled something about 'stupid humans' and 'too much happy.'

I didn't care anymore because now I have a new home, a new life, new friends, and I am finally happy.


End file.
